How Holly Lost Nearly 160 pounds in 15 Months with No Surgery

Using Lose It!, the keto lifestyle, and intermittent fasting, Holly is hitting her goal weight at age 50! Here, she shares her accomplishments and gives a glimpse into what she does every day to keep her success going.

Holly Wallis

From: Goleta, CA, USA

Occupation: Purchasing Manager

Start weight: 308 | Goal weight: 148 | Pounds lost: 160!

Holly’s weight loss journey

I started my weight-loss journey on July 1, 2017 and planned to hit my goal weight on my 50th birthday (October 13th, 2018). This brings my total weight loss to 160 pounds in 15 months with no surgery!

I had been overweight for most of my life. After my annual physical with a new doctor last year (6/28/17), I came across the “After Visit Summary” sitting on my kitchen sink. I saw the words “morbidly obese” and was surprised with how much information my doctor included about weight loss options. This was the turning point for me to get serious about losing weight and getting healthy before my weight kills me.

With my job and lifestyle, I needed to find support where I could do it in my own time. My kids learned about the Lose It! app and suggested I download it and give it a try. After a month of using the app I upgraded to a Premium account because I wanted to set nutritional goals as well as log my measurements.

I took my measurements a month into my journey and have lost over 5 feet of fat!

As I started dropping weight, it became easier to incorporate exercising like walking. I linked my Fitbit to my Lose It! app and it helped me achieve my daily step goal. Eventually that developed into running. One of my most proud moments this past year was running the SB Half Marathon!

I did have challenges along the way. One was a major bicycle accident in November 2017 that left me with head and multiple facial fractures. Following the accident, I had to have surgery on my wrist and neck in February 2018. I kept on going! When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

I had no surgery to lose the weight, just diet, exercise, dedication, and perseverance with a lot of love and support from my family, most of all my husband who supported me wholeheartedly on this crazy journey.

What does a typical day of eating and/or exercising look like for you?

I exercise daily now, 1-2 hours. This includes my bike commute to work 5 days a week, which adds up to 14 miles a day. I also run 9-12 miles a week. I did my first half marathon June 2018! I try to walk 2-3 miles a few times a week. I either go to get coffee or pick up something from the store.

For my weekly planning and meal prep, I spend a couple days baking and packaging meals that can be reheated during the week. I do my best to plan my calories out the day before so if I need to make adjustments I can, and won’t feel like I lost control when life comes up. Yes, I have overindulged along on the way, but planning keeps me on track and helps me still feel accomplished.

Researching new recipes is fun! I try out one or two new recipes per week, but now limit my Keto desserts to 2-3 times per week. There was a time I was eating them daily. Too much of a good thing is not good for you when you’re trying to lose weight.

What’s your best advice when it comes to weight loss?

My best advice is to plan out or at least visualize your day ahead of time so you stay in control of your own destiny. This is very empowering, and the more you do it the stronger and closer you become to reaching your goal weight.

I also recommend that you:

Set measurable goals. My goals were to log my food into my Lose It! app daily to help me stay within my macros and calorie allotment.

Set obtainable weight loss goals. I set goals along the way to lose 20-30 lbs. at a time.

Drink enough water. I had to download an app to my phone to send me reminders every hour to do this until it became a habit. Now, I try to drink three bottles of water before my lunch break.

Walk more. I have an office job, so I try walking at least 250 steps each hour during the work day.

Stand up more. I try standing during my 20 minute daily operations meeting and for at least half the day using my adjustable desk.

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Hi! I'm a Lose It! Marketing Manager, copywriter, singer-songwriter, and proud auntie. I wrote a couple songs that got on TV, then was a certified personal trainer before joining the team at Lose It!. I love family time, talking with strangers, fitness, meditation, and putting frozen fruit in wine and calling it sangria. (Balance, right?)
View all posts by Andrea M. Whitley